Is the .22 LR round useful for self-defense while using a pocket pistol?

Is the .22 LR round useful for self-defense while using a pocket pistol?

Just wondering, would a .22 LR round [if it was an expanding hollow point boat tail round], be useful if it was used in a pocket pistol, at very close range? Could a .22 LR pocket pistol reliably take assailants down at a range of a few yards [i.e- no more than 10 yards, sometimes closer]?

Just wondering, would a .22 LR round [if it was an expanding hollow point boat tail round], be useful if it was used in a pocket pistol, at very close range? Could a .22 LR pocket pistol reliably take assailants down at a range of a few yards [i.e- no more than 10 yards, sometimes closer]?

Boat tail 22? The 22lr is a heeled bullet, a boat tail would destabilize its seating. (Unless that's what you're calling a boat tail.)

It's the mobster's hit gun of choice.

I would NEVER trust my life to a 22lr pocket gun but I have several other options.

Hit them in the eye, yes. A hyper velocity round such as the Aguila super max is good stuff. It's rated at 1750 fps and a solid 204 of energy. Plus if u dump ten rounds of that in someone that's a lot of ammo bouncing around in a person.

Just wondering, would a .22 LR round [if it was an expanding hollow point boat tail round], be useful if it was used in a pocket pistol, at very close range? Could a .22 LR pocket pistol reliably take assailants down at a range of a few yards [i.e- no more than 10 yards, sometimes closer]?

Every bullet is potentially lethal, difference is time and point of impact. A .45 hollow point in the chest at close range will drop you like a rock, a .22 may still kill you but it will take longer for you to bleed out.

Best defensive round is the one that ends the threat hard and fast...don't give the bad guy any extra time to get closer to you and do you harm is the bottom line. A dying man can still stick a knife in you, a dead one cannot.

__________________
"The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals.... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of." (Albert Gallatin of the New York Historical Society, October 7, 1789)

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." - George Washington

Think of it as an "Oh Sh*t!" gun. You empty it, yell Oh Sh*t! and start running.

It can also be an effective "Doctor's gun". (Eyes, ears, nose and throat) Those are the targets and you'd better hit 'em real good.

__________________“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ― Samuel Adams

It is called a Doctor Gun not because your TARGET is the ears eyes, nose and throat, it is because that is where your stick the BARREL before pulling the trigger!

The "One shot stop" percentage (OK- everyone that wants to bash the One Shot numbers, meet me at the bar, and we can club it to death) for a .22 LR is very small- about 21% of the shootings with 22LR resulted in one hit, anywhere on the torso, stopping the attacker. Let's put that in perspective-

Walking out of the local Stop & Rob, you are confronted by 5 goblins, armed with chains, knives, pointy sticks, and bowling balls. They demand your watch, wallet, virginity, and passwords to Level 4 of HALO. And tell you they are going to beat you with the bowling ball. So you whip out your handy dandy mini-revolver in 22, and blocking left to right, hit each one in the body with a shot. Your piece is now empty. FOUR of the 5 goblins are still standing there. Leaking, but still standing, Now rather pissed.

OK- so 4 of the 4 will die in 30 minutes from the leaking. I humbly submit that is likely to be immaterial to you, and the guys at the funeral home will have a hell of a time making you look pretty enough for an open coffin funeral.

Can a .22 pocket pistol kill someone? Oh, HELL yes. It just does a poor job of STOPPING them. Two totally different matters. It has been said by smarter folks than me that you need a BIG hole (or two) to let air in, blood out, or a wound cavity that destroyed enuff circulatory system/ nervous system that the body stops working QUICKLY.

Head shots? Sure- if it penetrates to the brain (check the actual muzzle velocity on that pocket pistol, and not just the manufacturer's data from a much longer barrel) and does enuff damage TO the brain, AND you can HIT a head shot in combat. Anyone that can show me notarized proof that he has made 3 or more headshots in combat with a handgun, I'll shake his hand, give him a dollar, call him sir, and buy him a beer. It is a LOT harder to do than you think.

Would a J-22 be more effective than, say, a nail file? Yes. Would it be my first choice for what will be a very serious event in my life? No way.